Snowden’s choice of friends is telling

“Birds of a feather flock together,” according to the old adage, and Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor charged with espionage for releasing information about the NSA’s surveillance programs, is saying a lot by his choice of associates.

Snowden fled to Hong Kong, a Chinese terroritory, then flew to Moscow when the U.S. filed espionage charges and sought his extradition. He was expected to fly to Cuba before seeking asylum in Ecuador, but did not board a plane for Havana Monday, and his whereabouts are currently unknown.

Unkown, that is, except for his friends at Wikileaks, the online site that delights in releasing to the world all the classified government documents it can get its hands on. Its found, Julian Assange, is also on the lam from U.S. justice, and from Sweden, where he is facing sexual assault charges.

Some hail Snowden as a hero who bravely unveiled a U.S. violation of personal rights, but his choice of friends right now indicates he is more comfortable in the company of the enemies of political freedom and international anarchists.